Next Falcon will be less Australian

[Poetic Justice]

Hopefully this isn't a repost.

source:drive.com.au


The future of the Ford Falcon could be shared with other large Fords around the world in a push for globalisation. By TOBY HAGON.


The days of a Ford Falcon designed and built by Australians for Australians are numbered.

That’s the prognosis of Ford’s vice president of product development Derrick Kuzak, who admits the next-generation Falcon will likely share components (and possibly design elements) with other Ford vehicles, such as the American Taurus.

The entire Falcon could even be shared with other nameplates in the Ford world.

“When we work globally and we look at vehicles that are similar in terms of the market segments and the customers we’re trying to serve, you’re absolutely correct that large sedans and large utilities like Falcon and Territory have similar needs and customers to vehicles like Flex and Taurus in North America,” says Kuzak.

“So when we look to the future that’s exactly what we’re doing – [trying to work out] how do we serve both markets and both sets of vehicles in one way.”

For decades Ford Australia has designed, engineered and built Falcons that have been unique to Australia (as well as some low-volume export markets such as South Africa and New Zealand).

But Ford is now moving to a “One Ford” world, where entire vehicles and many components are increasingly shared across countries and model lines to maximise economies of scale and reduce development and engineering costs. Such a move has been hinted for some time.

One example is the next-generation Focus small car, which will be built in Australia alongside the Falcon from 2011.

While arch-rival Holden has positioned itself as the General Motors centre for large, rear-drive cars, Ford Australia’s role in the development of large cars such as the Falcon is still unclear.

As is the future of what has been a large part of the Falcon’s sales pitch - rear-wheel drive.

On a recent visit to Australia, Ford’s global president Alan Mulally said a decision had not been made on whether the Falcon would switch to the more common front-wheel-drive layout – which has advantages with reducing weight and allowing for more interior space – or continue with rear-wheel drive.

Kuzak expands on those comments and says the decision of what wheels will be driven will largely come down to fuel economy and what works best.

“With our new platforms we are committed to substantial weight reduction,” says Kuzak.

“It’s not just rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive – it’s that type of vehicle in the [context] of what makes sense in 2015 when we need to reduce our weight substantially and our fuel economy substantially.”

Kuzak says there are advantages with rear-wheel drive when it comes to weight balance, vehicle dynamics and refinement but that a decision will not be made for some time.

In a rare win for the locally made large car, the timing of a global swing to small cars and the recent launch of a new Falcon means a decision on its future won’t have to be made for a few years.

Ford’s new FG Falcon only went on sale in April 2008; going on previous life cycles of the Falcon that means the basic platform (and doors, windows, etc) should still be in use until at least 2013.

“We’ve put it on the back burner because we’re not going to have to make that decision now for a while,” says Kuzak.

“We have a plan today. We have many decisions that we’re trying to make relatively quickly because of the structural change that’s occurred in the Australian market, that’s occurred in the North American market. So we’re just trying to go through the decisions in a very structured manner.”

Kuzak acknowledges the decision on whether to switch from rear- to front-wheel drive is a crucial one for Ford but one that may not make sense for volume-selling vehicles such as the Falcon and its Territory offshoot.

“What we’re trying to understand is the role of rear-wheel drive going forward,” says Kuzak. “There clearly will always be a role [for rear-wheel drive] for performance vehicles and sports cars.

“Whether rear-wheel drive is the right choice for sedans and other larger crossovers we’re just not sure any more. Given what’s happening in your market, given what’s happened in the US market, we’re just not sure, so we’re going through studies to understand just what the role is.”

In the shorter term, though, Ford admits it has bigger challenges, the most crucial being improving sales of its small cars.

“We have to re-establish trust in our brand,” says Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of marketing and communications, who admits the Ford brand “hasn’t been seen as a relevant brand, or at least as relevant as it could be”.

“Ford’s line-up around the world wasn’t really balanced,” the former Toyota executive says frankly of a brand that’s focused heavily on large vehicles in countries like the United States. “When it comes to passenger cars we have to be different.”

Farley says “small is big” and that sales of small cars are set to double by 2014. Ford has already said small cars are the future.

Large cars, on the other hand, are continuing to lose favour. Sales of the Falcon have tumbled over the last decade. Even the arrival of an all-new model a few months ago hasn’t stopped the slide; Falcon sales for August 2008 were 10 per cent lower than for the outgoing Falcon in August 2007.